With a green New Year’s in B.C.’s forecast, the province saw more daily weather records set on Friday.
According to Environment Canada, 15 communities recorded new daily maximum highs for Dec. 29 as above-normal temperatures continued.
The warmest community in B.C. on Friday was Prince Rupert, which reached 14.2 C and eclipsed the city’s old mark of 11.8 C that was set in 2006.
Earlier in the week, 13 communities set daily highs on Wednesday, followed by 10 communities on Thursday.
An Environment Canada spokesperson, Armel Castellan, said in some areas of the province, overnight temperatures are in the 4-5 C range, which is 20 degrees warmer than normal.
Castellan also noted that some areas are seeing half their normal rain or snowfall totals, “and their driest-on-record, and we have places with records going back over 100 years in some cases.”
Premier David Eby told Global News that, because of conditions like this, the province now keeps its wildland firefighters on year-round payroll instead of seasonal work.
“I’m told that, this year, if we don’t get a significant amount of worse, (the wildfire season) might be even worse (than last year), which is incredibly concerning,” said Eby.
Below are the daily records that were set on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023.
Agassiz
- New record: 13.3 C
- Old record: 12.1 C, set in 2018
Bella Bella
- New record: 12.8 C
- Old record: 11.9 C, set in 1980
Bella Coola
- New record: 11.2 C
- Old record: 9.0 C, set in 1980
Port Hardy
- New record: 11.8 C
- Old record: 10.8 C, set in 2018
Powell River
- New record: 11.7 C
- Old record: 11.1 C, set in 1939
Prince George
- Tied record of 7.5 C set in 1980
Prince Rupert
- New record: 14.2 C
- Old record: 11.8 C, set in 2006
Puntzi Mountain
- New record: 6.4 C
- Old record: 5.5 C, set in 2018
Quesnel
- New record: 10.5 C
- Old record: 9.4 C, set in 1980
Sechelt
- New record: 14.6 C
- Old record: 11.1 C, set in 1975
Vancouver
- New record: 12.4 C
- Old record: 12.1 C, set in 1998
Victoria Harbour
- New record: 14.0 C
- Old record: 13.3 C, set in 1904
West Vancouver
- New record: 14.5 C
- Old record: 9.5 C, set in 1980
Whistler
- New record: 5.5 C
- Old record: 5.1 C, set in 1997
White Rock
- New record: 14.3 C
- Old record: 12.2 C, set in 1933
Williams Lake
- New record: 7.7 C
- Old record: 6.0 C, set in 1980
Of note, it’s likely more records will be set on Saturday, as Environment Canada was reporting that White Rock was at 15 C at noon.
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